Chuknagar massacre
| Chuknagar massacre | |
|---|---|
| Part of Bangladesh genocide | |
| Native name | চুকনগর গণহত্যা |
| Location | Chuknagar, Khulna, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) |
| Date | 20 May 1971 (UTC+6:00) |
| Target | Bengali Hindus |
Attack type | Burst fire, mass murder, genocidal massacre, ethnic cleansing |
| Weapons | Light machine guns, semi-automatic rifles |
| Deaths | 10,000 - 12,000 |
| Perpetrators | Pakistan Army, Razakars |
| Motive | Anti-Hindu sentiment, racism |
Chuknagar massacre (Bengali: চুকনগর গণহত্যা) was a massacre of Bengali Hindus committed by the Pakistan Army and local collaborators during the Bangladesh War of Independence in 1971. The massacre took place on 20 May 1971 at Dumuria in Khulna and it was one of the largest massacres during the war.
According to local estimates, between 10,000 and 12,000 people were killed, though the exact number of persons killed in the massacre is not known. Academic Sarmila Bose, in her controversial book. dismisses claims that 10,000 were killed as "unhelpful", and argues that the reported number of attackers could have shot no more than several hundred people before running out of ammunition. The majority of people killed in the massacre were men, although an unknown number of women and children were murdered as well. She does admit a massacre took place, but the numbers claimed are unhelpful. Salil Tripathi had criticized Bose for taking at face value defensive statements by Pakistan Army officers, but doubting any claims made by Bangladeshis.